Sandvik’s MC431 continuous miner, built at its specialised mechanical cutting plant in Zeltweg, Austria, has been assembled and commissioned at the company’s Heatherbrae facility in New South Wales ahead of its first deployment in Australia. The machine is designed for underground hard rock mechanical cutting, targeting applications where drill-and-blast is constrained by seismicity, vibration limits or access, and will be supported locally by Sandvik’s Australian technical teams. For mine planners and geotechnical engineers, the MC431 signals growing scope to design layouts, ground support and production schedules around continuous cutting rather than cyclic blasting.

Australian-listed Sentinel Metals is acquiring Capricorn Metals’ Big Springs Gold Project in Nevada for up to $26 million, adding a 1.01Moz gold resource to its existing 920,000oz Columbia gold–silver project in Montana. The deal creates a roughly 2Moz US gold portfolio across two advanced exploration assets in established mining jurisdictions with existing infrastructure. For mine planners and geotechs, the scale justifies detailed resource conversion, pit optimisation and permitting strategies geared to multi-mine development rather than standalone projects.

Rio Tinto Group and CITIC Investment Holdings have launched the Suzhou Industrial Park Rio Tinto-CITIC Xinxin Equity Investment Fund on 26 June, partnering with CITIC Private Equity, Shaanxi Coal Geology Group, Yuanfeng Capital and Zhongfang to back mining technology ventures. The fund is moving to invest in “green” autonomous haulage system (AHS) trucks, signalling capital support for low-emission, automated haul fleets in large open pits. For mine planners and OEMs, this points to stronger funding for battery-electric or hybrid AHS platforms and associated digital control infrastructure in China-focused projects.